Kamado Joe Heat Deflector VS Big Green Egg Plate setter
Okay since I have been getting lots of questions lately to see if the Kamado Joe heat deflector would fit inside the Big Green Egg. Also everyone wanted to know which one is actually better.
Well I am a owner of my Big Green Egg over 14 years now and my Kamado Joe over 7 years. So had lots of experience using the heat deflector and plate setter. Well let’s get into this comparison shall we!
Well first off so far I discovered that the plate setter is a bad design for indirect cooking since there’s three large gaps where the meat can be exposed to direct heat which give you uneven cooking surface on your cooking grate. This issue will also cause three hot spot on the pizza stone when cooking Pizza’s. This why Big Green Egg user's has to rotate there pizza a couple of time during the cook to prevent the crust for cooking uneven. Also when cooking stuff like chicken wings using the plate setter with legs up you got to keep moving your wings around your cooking grate or you have the rick of burning them.
Big Green Egg Plate Setter
You can see where the 3 larger air gap are when plate setter is place on top of heat deflector stone!
The Kamado Joe heat deflector only has a small gap all the way around but you actually have more of indirect cooking space and it actually distribute the heat more evenly. I definitely prefer this heat deflector for low and slow cooking as well for all other uses! I have done many pizza cook using the pizza stone on top of the heat deflector and didn't have to rotate pizza during the cook. (I also use the ceramic leg for air gap between pizza stone and heat deflector. The heat deflector has a diameter of 15 inches. With a smaller air gap it allows for easier air temp control for low and slow cooks!
Heat deflector air gap.
Plate setter air gap
Head deflector in direct cooking set up.
Plate setter indirect cooking set up. You can see the 3 large air gap.
Heat deflector baking and pizza set-up.
Plate setter baking & pizza set-up. You can see why the plate setter can cause hot spots from the 3 larger air gap.
You can increase the air gap of the heat deflector by using the Big Green Egg pizza stone if you want a bigger air gap which can be useful depending of what you’re cooking!
You can increase the air gap by using the Big Green Egg pizza stone.
Another big advantage of the heat deflector over the plate setter is that it can be used to elevate your cooking grate to the level of your lid for direct cooking which means less chances of flare ups of actually getting to your food! You can also flip the stand of the heat deflector which also gives you 1 more inch in height!
The heat deflector stand upside down to give you 1" extra in height.
The plate setter does work well but you have to keep a close eye on your food and you have to move your food around more often to prevent hot spots. Also the 3 large gap around the plate setter make it easier for the flame in flares up to get to your food when you have lid open and this can be issue for novice grillers.
Kamado Joe heat deflectors different set ups:
Plate setter different set ups:
As you can see the heat deflector from Kamado Joe is more versatile and you get more bang for your buck for it! Its easier to use, better for low and slow and it provides away better even heat distribution. I also find that all the Kamado Joe accessories are more intuitive and very versatile compare to there competition but others might have a different view on it. The company spends lots of time with the feedback of there customers and fans in designing new product which is real nice to see in a company.
Happy Grilling! :)
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